OP - I was wondering why you're going for these type of courses, I understand some people including myself have anxiety issues during tests. That is why I went the online route and online proctoring using RPNow (Study.com) or ProctorU (StraighterLine).

I haven't taken courses at APU/AMU, but I recall several people mention their courses are not proctored for some. The cost would be $270/credit. I would only recommend them if you really need the courses and it's not offered anywhere else.

If you are wanting to go to the Big 3 or WGU, you can take the bulk of your credits online with OD.com/Saylor/SL/Study.com and there's ALEKS, Shmoop (not for TESU), FEMA (only for COSC), and the free credits available that don't require proctoring.

So, the easy answer here is to choose one of the big 3. That's a guaranteed win for what you want. Everything else is playing hunt-and-peck-and-guess.

Since there are about 4700 accredited colleges, it's true that choosing from 3 feels limiting. There are about 200 *good* colleges that accept almost every ACE credit, but the rest of the pie is about 4500 colleges. THERE IS NO LIST. You have to look, email, ask, email, follow up, etc.

I have a suggestion. Take a Saylor.org course as a trial. The course itself is free and you can test yourself on the practice quizzes and finals. Treat them like they are a real test and set a timer. If that goes OK, try the proctored final for credit. You'll only be out the $25 proctoring fee. I found that it was pretty easy to ignore the camera once I started concentrating. Being in your own environment helps, too. Make sure that you won't be disturbed during the testing time, and allot extra time to get logged in and started as it sometimes goes slow. If you don't pass, there's no harm done as it doesn't create any sort of permanent grade that you have to deal with.

In fact, that's generally true for ALL of our alternative credit sources. A fail just means you study harder and do a retake later or try the course somewhere else...no permanent consequences. Also there's less performance pressure since all of the alternative credit works as pass/fail. If you get a "C" you pass...there's no (external) pressure to get an "A" as it doesn't show. I think that taking these alternative credit courses can be a real confidence builder...you might just need to get yourself started.

bjcheung77 Wrote:If you are wanting to go to the Big 3 or WGU, you can take the bulk of your credits online with OD.com/Saylor/SL/Study.com and there's ALEKS, Shmoop (not for TESU), FEMA (only for COSC), and the free credits available that don't require proctoring.

To elaborate on a portion of my previous post and to build on what davewill mentioned... I started this journey about 2.5 years ago, as someone who has severe anxiety issues as well. I started off with the FREE credits to build confidence/self-esteem as they were not proctored.

I was ecstatic that I grabbed about 10 credits free of charge too... I then went with StraighterLine for the bulk of my LL credits as most courses as I know most of their courses, you can almost pass the course before you hit the final and some are open book final. The remainder of the courses I took at Study.com for the UL/AOS requirements for almost the same reasons.

StraighterLine: Bulk of courses are 70% exams/midterm and 30% final exam. You just need a cumulative % over 70 and you pass the course, they use ProctorU for exams and someone watches you over webcam. Study.com: quizzes, final, assignments all account for 1/3 of the course for UL courses. Study.com uses RPNow, which is basically the "PC" records your exam without someone watching you.

Now for people who randomly get anxiety attacks, instead of using Saylor.org, I would recommend using Onlinedegree.com as they use the RPNow system to record your exam vs Saylor.org which uses ProctorU and having someone watching you. The other benefit is instead of $25/exam, it's $9/exam. You can get 44 credits towards the BALS with Onlinedegree.com - If you are going for a different degree, you may want to use OD/Saylor.org combo.

In short, start with the free-cheaper credits then move up to SL/Study.com; basically I used SL/Study.com as Saylor.org courses are a bit "messy", links are sometimes not working and the course material isn't the best at preparing you - another reason I took them is because they're not as cheap, but they're easier/faster to complete.